*Taken from a Blog Post from the Summer of 2017*
The door opened and she blew in, eyes glowing…dizzy with light, her hair swirly and curly and all about her. Cheeks rosy, mouth smiling, that precious little gap between her teeth beckoning me to stop what I was doing and live there…right there in the hole of her smile, encompassed and complete in her joy.
“Mama” she said, setting my borrowed camera down on the table “I think I know what I wanna be someday!”
What could that be?” I wondered, still laughing on the inside from her contagious energy – her happy happy energy.
“I think I would just love to be a photographer…it fills me with so much joy! I can take pictures of things and people and places…I just really love it.” Then, she spun and skipped away, followed by the most magnificent halo of abundance. Joyful abundance.
My little girl is a soul with a gorgeous personality. That moment will forever be etched in my brain because it taught me who I want to be. Her pictures are beautiful, but what they represent, is called “purpose.” Intention. Love. Authenticity.
Isn’t that the key?
You need only look in a loved child’s eyes to find the meaning of the time here, on this planet, in this life, with these people.
See, we all were made on purpose for a purpose by the One that Loves Us exactly as we are.
When we feel joy…from snapping a photo of a flower, or watching our kids delight in a home baked treat, or a wanderer’s eyes light up because you offered them a couple of dollars…you’ve found pupose.
Anytime gratitude or compassion or empathy or anything other then fear takes over your mind you’ve found why you were made.
This is when great things happen – this is when intention can become part of you.
This life was created for joy. You were created for joy. You don’t have just one gift to share with the world – you are the gift. Spirit says “from the very beginning I designed you … you are beautifully and wonderfully made.” You were made exactly as you were suppose to be with desires and dreams and gifts.
Don’t know what you offer this world, what your talent is?
I will tell you.
You are able to love…start there. Start with simply loving people around you. Smile at them. When they blow their car horn at you, mouth “oh sorry” and move on. Give them gifts…kind words and cups of coffee ad pretty trinkets and time. Think of them and let them know. Offer peace to turbulent situations instead of becoming part of the chaos. Love them. See them as yourself and see them as a gift – divinely created with purpose. See their value and their humanity. Really…just love them.
Watch trees and butterflies and rainstorms as gifts. Notice ants…don’t step on them. Listen to the birds and their calls – quit joking about how good it would be to take their lives and eat them. See their life. See their beauty and appreciate it. Be in awe of them. Walk barefoot on the ground and absorb the strength of the earth and how grounding it is and be thankful. Love it…Source loved you so much to make it. Appreciate the gift.
Then, move on to the the suffering in life…and feel it…feel it for a moment. Allow empathy to encompass you anytime there is an opportunity to practice. Work through the suffering and see how when you allow it to make you bitter …you die on the inside. Then, see suffering’s ability to change you – to grow you – to give you opportunity to treat others the way you want to be treated…then see that suffering is a gift and be thankful for it’s lesson.
All of it is a gift. It’s all alive, it’s all love – it was placed here by LOVE so that you would also love.
My little girl, during a photo shoot between herself, her brothers, and a sunset…found joy. When she felt it, that bubble of warmth and delight and goodness made its way up through her veins into her heart…to her mind…shining through her smile – and allowed her to set the intention of “I want more of this and this is what I think I will do to have it.” Why? Because she values the beauty that creeps into her soul from goodness. She values abundance and doesn’t see it as a one time deal…a mistake of the day…a “well, that was good but too bad it can’t always be like that.” No, she realized it was fantastic and she can chase that feeling and that reality as long as wants to take it.
Maybe she doesn’t fully understand it in that way, maybe it’s more simple in her mind because she hasn’t’ formed all of the fear of “but what if I fail?”
I think that’s the key. Don’t give into fear. You can’t fail – you can only learn and become a better version of you.
Perfect love casts out fear. Do what makes your heart sing. Find your purpose. If your purpose five years ago was to be a mother, then be the best mother you can TODAY. Don’t give up because things are hard or there is pressure or you are lonely. Remember your purpose and set the intention that you will do it, that you will love and be loved.
What if she doesn’t become a photographer? I know she will find joy somewhere else (in her) because she values it.
Do you value joy?
If so, intentionally seek it. See the gifts all around you…things are not as they seem. There is so much more – awaken.
There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life – fear of death, fear of judgment- is not yet fully formed in love.
1 John 4:18
Light in Ten Blue Eyes 